The present disclosure relates generally to the manufacture of integrated circuit devices. More particularly, the present disclosure provides a method and resulting devices for stacking and interconnecting three-dimensional (3-D) devices using heterogeneous and non-uniform layers, such as fully fabricated integrated circuits. By way of example, the integrated circuits can include, among others, memory devices, processor devices, digital signal processing devices, application specific devices, controller devices, communication devices, and others.
Semiconductor substrates in conventional chip stacks are typically thinned using a mechanical backgrinding process. Backgrinding imparts a high level of mechanical stress to the devices, and can result in substantial thickness variation.